Join us for an informative and entertaining series of FREE film screenings and talks hosted by SMC Adjunct Professor Sheila Laffey as an extension to her course, Green Screen: Films on the Environment and Transformation. Sponsored by SMC Global Citizenship. Call 310-434-4003 for more information.

Seating is strictly on a first-arrival basis.

The Earthing Movie

Documentary Film Screening and Talk with Filmmakers Josh and Rebecca Tickell

The Earthing Movie (2019, 75 minutes) explores the effects on human physiology and health of connecting our skin to the ground for extended periods of time, which can significantly reduce inflammation, leading to often dramatic health benefits. A talk with the documentary’s award-winning filmmakers Josh and Rebecca Tickell follows the screening.

Bringing It Home

Film Screening and Talk with Sheila Laffey

Hemp — it’s not just for hippies anymore. Today, it’s found in everything from salad dressings to construction materials. Industrial hemp is a nonpsychoactive plant grown in 31 other countries but prohibited until very recently in the United States. Directed by Linda Booker, Bringing It Home (2006, 60 minutes) uses animation, archival images, and interviews with hemp business leaders and growers, to explore a crop with so many widespread benefits. A talk with Sheila Laffey follows the screening.

Free Willy

Film Screening and Talk with Producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Jennie Lew Tugend

Free Willy (1993, 102 minutes) is a feature film about a boy who befriends a captive Orca whale. The film drew attention to the real-life captive whale Keiko, who was released thanks to the efforts of the film’s producers, and was enormously successful, grossing $153 million from a $20 million budget, and spawning three sequels, a videogame, and a TV series. A talk with the film’s producers — Lauren Shuler Donner (co-owner with director Richard Donner of The Donners’ Company, producer of all 12 films in the X-Men series) and Jennie Lew Tugend (producer/co-producer of the Lethal Weapon and HBO’s Tales from the Crypt franchises) — follows the screening.

Poisoning Paradise

Film Screening

Executive produced by Pierce Brosnan and produced and directed by Keely Shaye Brosnan and Teresa Tiko, Poisoning Paradise (2018, 75 minutes) looks at the seemingly idyllic world of native Hawaiians, whose communities are surrounded by experimental test sites for genetically engineered seed corn and pesticides, and presents the insights of activists, scientific experts, and healthcare professionals on the effects of environmental injustice and what it means for the future of food, sustainable farming practices, and the health of our planet.